Thirty years ago, Linda Patterson was a shy art student
looking for change. She found it when she founded East
Bay Improv Performance Troupe, which has been entertaining audiences in
Berkeley and teach the transformative art of improv to all ages. Now she designs and teaches theater
games that cure stage fright, break down social barriers and make people
laugh so hard they get addicted. Patterson took time out of her mission
to talk about the power of living in the present moment.

Your literature claims that improv helps people in
their personal and business life. How does it do that?Linda Patterson: When you're playing, its hard
to keep up your boundaries. It helps you unlearn things you learned
growing up, become a kid and play. Kids don't plan their days. They don't
have an agenda or a calendar. Improv teaches people how to let go
of control and stay in the moment. No ones knows from one moment to the
next where a scene is going. All of the really fun things in life
are right in the moment, and improv, by its very nature, requires that
you stay in the moment in order to do it right. You learn things about yourself that
you didn't even know and that can give you confidence and appreciation
for yourself.

Sounds great. Has improv caused any problems in your
life?Patterson: Well, it makes your mouth a little
faster. It makes you very spontaneous, so you might be less reserved. You can control it, though it be a
little harder for younger people. But it's so much fun to be in the moment
that you don't care.

Sometimes watching improv makes me tense because I
cal feel the pressure on the performers. Does it ever make you tense?Patterson: When I first discovered improv 30 years
ago and I'm 52 now. At the time, I couldn't even talk on stage. The first improv class I took was
at Laney Junior College, and it was terrifying. I had the worst case of
stage fright I've ever seen. I loved it so much, I took it at every school
I could.

Who are your improv influences?Patterson: I studied with Bay Area Theatre Sports
and Sue Walden in San Francisco; with J. Pringle at Hayward State and Patricia
Ryan at Stanford University; with Keith Johnstone at Loose Moose Theatre's
international improv teacher training in Calgary; and with Paul Sills,
founder of Second City in Chicago, at a workshop in Wisconsin.

There's another Patterson in the troupe. Are you related?Patterson: Yes, he's my son. Ever since he was
a little kid I knew he was an improv natural. As soon as he was old enough,
I had him come with me to classes. He just got back from Loose Moose
Theatre's improv teacher training in Calgary. It's intensive with improv
teachers from all over the world.

What inspired you to start the school?Patterson: I wanted to create something that I
wished existed: an affordable and accessible improv school. I wanted to keep it economical so
people can just trip over it and try it, instead of having to commit themselves
right away. We teach six-week classes for $85
because we use the community center in Albany. There's no overhead, and
we can raise some money with our performances, and snack bar and T-shirt
sales.

Do people get addicted to improv?Patterson: A lot of people live it. They do as
much improv as they can get and go see as much improv as they can. In improv classes you are going through
social and physical changes. During class people laugh for two hours solid
and they get physically used to that. People go through withdrawals from
those endorphins during breaks between sessions. Their energy starts to
go down and they get depressed. We've had to start offering field
trips to shows in between class sessions because people call and say, "I'm
desperate, can you help me?" You laugh, but its true. It's a surprising
phenomenon.